REAGAN FITZKE

Much to my surprise, I was one of the five senior girls to be nominated to be homecoming queen.

Being up for homecoming queen is likely the secret wish of high school girls all around. Movies and chick flicks about high school often highlight the importance of the “Homecoming Queen” title. It is often a part of the plot in several movies, like “Mean Girls,” and one of my favorite childhood movies, “The Princess Protection Program.”

So when Student Body President and senior Morgan O’Connor, someone I’ve known since kindergarten, texted me about my nomination, I was surprised.

I would probably have to thank my twin brother’s friends for this. They decided it would be funny to vote for him and me together. How I got the nomination and he didn’t, however, is still a mystery.

Since I got that text, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it would be like if I actually won. How many followers on social media would I gain? Should I wear the infamous sash and crown to the dance? What would change? Then, I realized – this is silly.

It dawned on me that it does not really matter who wins homecoming royalty or not. Before I was nominated along with my good friends Conner Humann and Kira Amels, I had thought it was a pointless popularity contest. And to some extent, it is. If you’re not well-liked by many people, you’re not going to win. I don’t expect to win. I’m not the prettiest girl to be nominated, nor do I have any reason that I should be nominated out of respect. But, it got me to thinking – why should this even matter to me?

Yeah, it’d be a cool memory to have to be crowned as homecoming royalty in high school. But really, what matters in the end is that I do have friends and people that will always support me. I don’t need the approval of the entire high school to feel like I have accomplished something. It’s the small victories that count, and to me, those small victories are the friendships I have made. No, I don’t have 200 friends, but as the saying goes, “Four quarters are better than a hundred pennies.” We all have people who love us and people who respect us. We all have people who don’t. But to make an impact on somebody’s life in a positive way is considered to be a victory by me.

So, on the slight off-chance that I do perhaps win the title of Homecoming Queen, you can expect me to pull a Cady Heron at Sports Authority Stadium this Saturday.